Development of Editing Technology:

Early editing - Cutting:

George Melies - A Trip to the Moon

The first instance of editing in history was in 1900s when George Méliès pioneered the ‘jump cut’ edit, which he used in his films to make objects and people disappear and or change them into different things – creating the idea of magic in early cinema. This was shown to effect in his films such as ‘Trip to the Moon’, (1902). This sparked a change in cinematography for ever, moving away from the documentary style of filming to a narrative which portrayed fictional stories. D W Giffith, a younger director working under Méliès and Porter, went on to create inter-cutting, cross-cutting and the continuity cut which changed the style of film making. This then lead on to the Soviet Union Russia creation of montage editing. 

Moviola:

The moviola was created in 1924 in the USA. This was a machine that allowed editors to watch the film as they decided where to cut it and the sound, however it wasn't until the invention of the flatbed that both the film footage and the sound could be edited and cut at the same time. This style of editing was used for films such as ‘The Jazz Singer’.

Flatbed Edit Suites:

A flatbed editing suit being used

The creation of the moviola lead on to the flatbed edit suite, a machine that allowed film and sound to be played at the same time and edited together while seen on a small scene. In addition to this, the flatbed edit suite meant that the film reel could be played forwards, backwards and at different speeds. This then became the standard form of editing for Hollywood and various rules were put in place for how film text could be edited – it also lead to the French New wave style of film making which purposefully broke the rules of Hollywood editing.

The Digital Era (CMX-600, Edit Droid and Avid 1):

Linear and Non-Linear editing:

In 1991 one of the first pieces of digital editing software/technology was introduced, the Avid 1. This followed the CMX-600 software and gave the film makers more freedom when it came to merging sounds with video footage and also changing the length of shots/scenes. The Avid 1 sparked a whole new wave of editing technology and changed the way films were created all together – meaning digital software (such as Premiere Pro) has been used from then all the way to the present day.

Online and Offline editing:

The creation of online and offline editing is typically associated with VHS tapes – which has now been widely replaced by the use of CDs. Offline editing allows the person to make a rough cut of the text, meaning that it can be done in a less-expensive way as well as using a lower resolution copy of the film footage. After the rough cut has been approved, the film will go into be edited and put together to create the final online version.

Modern editing platforms (Final Cut and Premiere Pro):

Adobe's Premiere Pro software icon

With the introduction of the Avid 1, the future of editing was pushed along the digital path, leading to the introduction of various other types of digital editing software being created. The most popular of these being Adobe Premiere Pro and Final Cut - released by Apple. These programs allow virtually anyone to create films or videos to a high quality and for a less expensive/more affordable price. In addition, a greater range of services and creative effects are available to the user, such as changing the colour saturation and quality of the footage.